Whisky Forum - Balblair rebranding

AB53Coo · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:03 am Post subject: Balblair rebranding

Another distillery rebranding itself, my favourite one this time

Past few years seems to have seen a lot of distillery go from age statements to vintages or vice-versa. Never bothers me but gutted to see balblair change as I thought their packaging looked great. As long as they still produce the same stuff inside the bottle I guess

deadz101 · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:28 am Post subject:

I was just at the distillery a few weeks ago, the â€˜rebrandingâ€™ for the vintage rather than age statement isnâ€™t a new thing for Balblair, theyâ€™ve usually released from the year rather than the age for a long time. Itâ€™s a super friendly place to visit, the guy who showed us around was so friendly and warm, he seemed quite genuine and passionate about the place and even said hi to us when we saw him the following night in the pub. I got to try a 1991 and 2007 sc, ended up buying the single cask. Iâ€™d rank it up there with the Glendronach tour I did a couple of years ago in terms of friendliness and non-corporate feel.

AB53Coo · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:00 am Post subject:

Think we've crossed wires there. Balblair have moved away from vintages to age statements. And applied very generic packaging. 1 positive is it is all bottles at 46%

Amazon already selling the new style
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Balblair-12-Year-Old-70cl/dp/B07NSGY2DR/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_5?keywords=balblair+whisky+12&qid=1553767131&s=gateway&sr=8-5-fkmrnull

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

If I had to pick one distillery as my favourite, it would be Balblair for me as well. I'll monitor this closely, and stock up on a few vintage releases now just in case!

I think in the case of a 12 year-old at least it probably won't make a big difference (provided it stays at 46% ABV of course), as the quality and characteristics of the 2002, 2003 and 2005 vintages for example were very consistent.

EDIT: Unfortunately, the main difference I can see is the price of older whiskies. For example the 2000 vintage is/was just under Â£70, but that price will now be occupied by the 15 year-old, while the 18 looks like is the same price as the 1991 vintage. Disappointing, but what can you do - I love young Balblairs anyway!

deadz101 · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 2:47 pm Post subject:

I misunderstood as well, the new branding isnâ€™t to my liking either. Iâ€™ll probaly stock up on a couple of the vintage bottles soon.

Â£500 for a 25 yo Balblair seems a bit (a lot) pricey, International Beverage company has given its corporate makeover, a bit like Old Pulteney recently. I suspect they'll be pedalling to the emerging chinese market as their othr brands incl chinese spirits.

What a shame.

TheMaster · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:29 pm Post subject:

Well there goes my favourite whisky down the pan.

For a long time Inver House have looked after their customers with high quality and fair prices, seems like they've finally sold out.

Â£500 for a 25yo. You're having a laugh. They only just released a 26yo (1991/2018) which k paid a little over Â£110 for. Madness.

Total backwards step for the packaging too, looks rubbish and nowhere near as premium to the current stuff.

Look, I can see why they've done it, this vintage malarkey is confusing to normal customers. They Look at bottles, current and historic, and can't see the range. Putting a simple age ok resolves that. So that just shows you who they are now targeting. Not us, who find the concept of vintages and new releases yearly all very interesting. No. The numpties who see an age and throw money at it.

A very sad day indeed.

lincoln imp · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:36 pm Post subject:

you can still get 1990 2nd release that is just over 25 years old for around Â£120, to ask Â£500 for a 25 year of roughly the same whisky as a disgrace and just another sign that the corporate power brokers are intent on sticking two fingers up to their regular drinkers and fans.

Balblair is a favourite of mine, well it was until this happened.

Mortlach, Bladnoch, Glenrothes now Balblair, it is like the head honcho`s have decided in one fell swoop that whisky is too cheap.

Price rises are inevitable and expected but in the case of the 25 year it is going up 300% since when was that sort of price rise acceptable, greed is everywhere, and it is depressing.
_________________
Pour me a glass please.

davidbe · Master Of Malts Joined: 28 May 2015 Posts: 499

The price on the 25 is staggering. Guess it's time to stock up on the 25+ year vintages.

Drame Blanche · Double Malt Member Joined: 18 Aug 2018 Posts: 156

Ridiculous and illogical prices, the most boring and generic label design (who do they think is this appealing to??), blatant lies to explain the change. Seems like another successful rebranding exercise to me!

Stock up on the 100-odd quid 20+ Balblairâ€™s gents (and the wonderful 21 G&M), alas we lost another one.

Olorin · Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:57 pm Post subject:

I don't mind the re-branding per se as long as the stuff in the bottle stay the same. The comments others have made about the price increases are very disappointing though. I've always found Balblair's to be decent value in the past.

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

soderd · Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 6:41 am Post subject:

will the old balblair vintage bottles be collectables?

ive boyght the 03 and 05 on auction and they where great... was hopeing to find more from balblair at a reasonable price.

AB53Coo · Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 9:04 pm Post subject:

TheMaster · Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:04 am Post subject:

Scotchnthings · Double Malt Member Joined: 11 Feb 2019 Posts: 144

I can see the 25 year old be on sale in no time anyway, and then them lowering the price, otherwise its not going anywhere.